The Things I Do for You
by CelesteFitzgerald
Summary: What if the Host Club had never been created? What would the hosts be like? Would they know each other? Would Haruhi be unpopular? Would people treat her as a boy or a girl? Read to find out what kind of crazy adventures would ensue!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

_Wow, _was the only word that came to my mind as I passed through the tall, wide doors of Ouran Academy. I had been there before, when my dad and I were finishing the paperwork to enroll me in classes, but the school had been empty then. Now, with hundreds of students filling the beautiful halls, everything was twice as impressive. The fancy staircases, fit for a palace. The giant, glittering chandelier above me. The stunning paintings lining the walls and ceiling. After the initial sense of wonder had left me, the only natural thought that could follow was, _How did I end up __here__?_

Looking around at this magnificent school, and then looking at my reflection in the perfectly polished tile floor, made me feel even more out-of-place than I already was. But there I was, with my short, ragged brown hair, dorky glasses, old sweater, and baggy pants. And I wasn't the only one noticing the striking contrast I brought into this rich world. As I stood in the entryway, I felt their heads turning towards me, their eyes judging me. A small part of me wanted to turn around and go back out that golden doorway, but the sensible part of me remembered why I came to Ouran: I wanted to be a lawyer, just like my mother. And Ouran offered the best education I could get. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes, silently asked my mother to wish me luck, and started walking.

As I made my way to my first class, I saw similar sights. More beautiful hallways, more paintings, more stairs. It amazed and angered me to think that all of these students had houses that looked like this. _Damn rich people. _

Maybe I should have given them more credit for being used to all this. It was only a few minutes before I was completely lost. Sighing, I leaned up against the wall (hoping I wasn't wrecking the artwork on it with my horrible fashion sense), opened my bag, and started searching for my map. I had almost found it when I heard a cheerful, high-pitched voice to my right.

"Do you need help?"

I turned toward the sound, then took a step back in surprise when I saw a six-foot-tall figure who did not even come remotely close to fitting the voice I just heard.

The tall boy spoke again. "Are you lost?"

I looked up at his face to realize that it was not this boy who was talking at all, but rather the small, blond boy on his shoulders. _What the hell is an elementary school kid doing here, and why does he have a high school uniform? _

"Uh, yeah, I'm looking for room 279."

"Oh! That's up those stairs over there, then go straight, and it's the third room on the left, right?" the short kid asked, and the tall boy grunted in agreement, his face expressionless.

"Ok, thanks," I said, amazed that an elementary school boy knew his was around the high school so well.

"You're welcome!" he said with a giggle. As I packed up my stuff and headed in the direction he pointed, the tall boy seemed to smile at me. But maybe it was just my imagination. _Well, if they can fit in at this school, maybe my being here isn't so crazy.  
_

* * *

Finally, I found my classroom. I took an empty seat in the back, next to two boys playing a game-boy. On a second look, I realized they were twins. Since I had nothing better to do in the five minutes before class started, I decided to entertain myself by trying to find as many differences between them as I could. After one or two minutes, the only one I had found was that they parted their hair on opposite sides.

Unfortunately, the twin who brushed his bangs to the left noticed me staring at them. He whispered something to his brother, and they looked at me, smirking. _Great. _I sunk lower in my chair as they stood up and approached my desk.

"What do you want?" they asked in perfect unison.

"Hey, I'm not going around sticking my nose into other people's business, so I'd appreciate it if you'd stay out of mine."

'Oh, really?' said the one on the right. 'Then why were you-' '-staring at us?' finished the one on the left.

"I...wanted to see what game you were playing," I lied, pointing at the game-boy.

"Hah. To think we would let a filthy commoner play our expensive games!"

"Fine! Then I don't want to play your stupid game!" I spat, standing up to face them.

"Well, you're real tough, aren't you?" 'You wanted to play a game?' 'We'll let you play our favorite one.' "It's called the 'Which One is Hikaru Game!'"

I stood, glaring at them as they explained the rules: "Figure out which one of us is Kaoru, and which one of us is Hikaru. You have to tell us you reason, and you can't just guess! And let us warn you, _no one _has ever won this game."

I rolled my eyes. _This is the stupidest game I've ever heard! _But, just to humor them, I played anyways. "The one on the left is Kaoru, and the one on the right is Hikaru," I stated, pointing to the boys respectively.

"Uh-oh, you got it wrong!" they practically sang.

"Yeah, sure. I bet I really did get it right and you're just messing with me."

The twins turned their eyes in towards each other for a moment, sending each other telepathic messages, then spoke again.

'Fine,' began Kaoru. 'But you still-'

'-have to give us a reason,' finished Hikaru.

"What reason? I just met you! Obviously I guessed."

"We told you, NO GUESSING. Too bad, you lose!"

"Fine. I never wanted to play your stupid game anyways," I muttered to myself as the three of us returned to our seats for class.

When the teacher reached my name in roll, I saw out of the corner of my eye the twins looking over at me, the smirks reappearing on their faces. I jerked my head over in their direction, prepared to give them a death stare, but they had already turned back to the front of the room, trying to seem innocent. _This is going to be a long day._ I did my best to stay focused on the algebra problems we were doing, but every few minutes I heard two voices whispering, "_Haruhi,_" as their stone cold eyes drilled holes in my head.

* * *

Finally, the longest sixty minutes of my life were over, and I couldn't have been more anxious to get out of that classroom. As I began to stand up, I noticed that Hikaru and Kaoru had already gotten up and were headed toward my desk. I grabbed my bag and started heading for the door, but I heard them behind me, saying, "Wait up, Haruhi."

I rushed out of the room and down the hall, not paying much attention to where I was going. I probably should have. After I turned the first corner I found myself crashing straight into another student, spilling his books onto the floor and knocking his glasses off his face.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

"I-I am so sorry!" I stuttered, scrambling to help pick up the boy's books. Well, my first day at Ouran was becoming a complete disaster.

It's no problem, really," the boy said while picking up his glasses. "Just try not to be so reckless in the future...You wouldn't happen to be the new scholarship student, Haruhi Fujioka, class 1-A, would you?"

"Uh, yeah...How did you—"

"You're a legend here. It's not every day a commoner is accepted into Ouran."

I could tell he wasn't trying to be offensive, but the way he said _commoner _only made this conversation more awkward.

Lifting his right index finger, he nonchalantly adjusted his glasses. "Please excuse me for not introducing myself sooner—" he paused for a moment, looking me over, "—Miss Fujioka. I am Kyoya Ohtori, class 2-A."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ohtori-senpai."

"Well, Miss Fujioka, you should be very proud to have the privilege of attending Ouran. It takes an incredibly talented person to receive such a large scholarship."

"Uh, thanks." I glanced up at the nearest clock. "Look, I should really be getting to class now—"

"Of course. If you'd like, I would be more than happy to show you to your next class."

"Oh—I don't want to trouble you."

"It's no trouble at all," he said, smiling.

"Thank you." At least the school had some kind, normal people. "I have History next, room 232."

"Ah. Follow me."

We began heading to the left, passing more students who kept turning to stare at me. My companion noticed the staring, too.

"Miss Fujioka, I understand that this is a rather personal question, but are you unable to afford the school uniform?"

Yes, that was a 'rather personal question.' I didn't particularly want to answer, but I didn't have much choice. "Um, no, we can't really afford it right now."

"If you'd like, the Ohtori family could pay the fee for you. And don't worry, it's no trouble at all. We can easily spare a little extra money."

Just what I needed. A reminder of how excessively rich his family was. The last thing I wanted was his charity, but he didn't seem to be the type of person to accept 'no' as an answer.

"Um, I guess, if you insist. But that's really not necessary, Ohtori-senpai—"

"Please, call me Kyoya. And yes, I do insist. It would be my pleasure to purchase the uniform for you."

"...Thanks."

One final turn to the right, and we arrived at my classroom.

"And here we are, Miss Fujioka," he announced, gesturing towards the room.

"Please, call me Haruhi," I mocked him, using my best sarcastic tone. Unfortunately, he ignored my sarcasm.

"Well, Haruhi, enjoy the rest of your day. I will have your uniform ready in a few days."

"Thanks. And sorry, again, for running into you."

"Not a problem," he assured me, adjusting his glasses again.

I started entering the classroom, thinking that maybe my day was beginning to get better.

"Oh, Haruhi. One more thing. Don't worry about paying me back right away. You can wait a few months before your first payment, and instead of the normal 10%, I'll only charge you 5% interest. You're welcome."

Or, maybe not.

* * *

Sorry for such a short chapter. The next one will be longer!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

"Mm," I said, closing my eyes, trying to savor every bite of my sandwich. It wasn't often that I'd come across good, fresh meat that I could afford at the supermarket, but last night there was a huge sale. It felt nice to finally sit back and relax after the stressful first half of the day. Somehow I had managed to survive three full days of school. They were all a little rough, but nothing was as bad as those first few hours.

I looked around at all the empty desks and chairs and enjoyed the silence. While I stayed in my classroom, the rest of the school ate lunch in the cafeteria. On Monday, I had ventured in there only to turn right around when I saw the twins already eyeing me. Those two still wouldn't leave me alone, but I was doing a good job of avoiding them by getting to class at the last possible second and leaving immediately after we were dismissed, so they didn't get too many chances to talk to me. Of course, they were also in my Literature class right after lunch and my Physics class at the end of the day. By then I was smart enough to choose seats in the front row to stay as far away from the twins as possible, even though I prefer the back.

As I finished my sandwich, I heard a knock at the door. I continued eating my sandwich, expecting it to just be my teacher, then nearly choked as Kyoya strolled into the room, holding the bag with my uniform. _How did he know I was here?! Has he been following me?_

"Ah, Haruhi, I thought I might find you here."

"How did you know where I was?!" I demanded.

"Well, since we're in different classes, I knew it would be very unlikely for us to run into each other again, so I asked the main office for a copy of your schedule. Naturally they couldn't refuse _my _request."

"What kind of school just hands out personal information? You have no right to see that. It's an invasion of privacy!"

"Be that as it may, how else would I have been able to deliver your uniform?"

"You showed me where my History class is. You could have brought it to me there."

"But my class is on the other side of the building. I wouldn't want to inconvenience myself."

I rolled my eyes. "Never mind, just give me my uniform."

He held the bag out and I ripped it away from his hands. "Thanks, I guess," I muttered, peering into the bag.

"You're welcome. Now, let's discuss your payment schedule."

I looked up. "Payment schedule?"

"Yes. Like I said Monday, you don't have to pay for a while, but I would appreciate it if you'd let me know when to expect your first payment."

"Um, yeah, about that, uh, I don't think I'll be able to pay you back."

"Excuse me?"

"Money's pretty tight right now, and there are no signs that the situation will improve anytime soon or, well, ever."

"...So you expected me to let you have the uniform for free?"

"Well, yeah, that's what I thought you meant."

"Why did you think...You know what? You're right. I can't make you give me money you don't have. It was foolish of me to think that."

"Thank you for understanding. I—"

"Let me finish. You don't have to pay me any money, but you still don't get the uniform for free." I felt my heart sinking. "Every now and then, I have more tasks to attend to than I can handle. I'm in very high demand. It's very stressful for me, but I can't neglect any of my duties." _Oh, no. Please, no. _"Now, your job, Haruhi, will be to assist me with any of the tasks I don't have enough time for."

"So you're making me your personal slave?!"

"No, slave isn't the right word...you're more like an indentured servant."

"Hey, I don't need the uniform that much. Why don't you just return it and—"

"The uniforms are non-returnable." _Great. _"Don't worry, Haruhi, I won't need a lot. Trust me, this is a much better deal than my first offer. You're getting a great bargain. I should really be leaving now. I'll see you later, Haruhi."

"But—" he had already left before I could speak. I fell back onto my chair and dropped my head down to my desk. _How did I get into this mess?_

* * *

I emptied the contents of the bag into my hands. A few minutes ago, after I had regained my composure, I had finally gotten up and headed to the bathroom to change. I held up the yellow dress, inspecting it. I never particularly liked dresses, but this one seemed worse than normal. _For such a wealthy school, you'd think they would design a better looking uniform._ I hesitated before putting it on, thinking of all the commitments that came with it. I sighed, again reminding myself that I'm doing this to be a lawyer like my mom, and I put on my new outfit.


	4. Chapter 4

I'm so sorry for taking so long to update! The last few weeks have been busy. I'll try to update more frequently now. I'd like to say I'll update every week, but that might not happen, but I'll try not to take more than two weeks. Here's chapter 4. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 4:

I checked my appearance in the mirror briefly before exiting the bathroom. _Maybe I'll actually fit in more now that I have a uniform. _As I looked around the hallway, I noticed that the other students had stopped staring at me. The relief almost made me forget my conversation with Kyoya. Almost.

I arrived at my Literature classroom a few minutes earlier. Now that I had a uniform, I hoped that the twins would stop making fun of me. But knowing those were high hopes, I entered the room as discretely as possible. Engrossed in their video game (do they ever quit playing that thing?), they didn't notice me at first. After a minute, Hikaru looked up for a second, returned to the game, then jerked his head up in my direction, eyes filled with shock. He elbowed Kaoru violently in the side and pointed straight at me. They stood up immediately and advanced toward me.

"Haruhi?" they asked in what seemed to be amazement.

"What now?"

They just stood there, unmoving. The corners of their mouths started gradually turning up until they finally snapped and burst into hysterical laughter. "Ha ha ha ha! He's dressed like a girl! Oh, this is too much! Ha ha!"

"...What the hell are you talking about? I am a girl!"

"Hah! Have you ever looked in the mirror? No girl would let themselves look as awful as you did in that shabby outfit!"

"Appearances aren't that important. It's a person's personality that really matters," I retorted, which sent them into another round of laughter with the occasional interjection of, "Appearances aren't important! Hah!" I rolled my eyes, then looked around the room as I realized that many of the other students were trying to stifle their laughter as well, and some began whispering to each other and giggling. _Did they all really think I was a guy?_

I was about to speak again when the teacher ordered us to our seats for class. As he glanced in my direction, he raised an eyebrow in question, and smirked a little. _Everyone thinks I'm a guy! _Normally it wouldn't bother me too much if someone thought I was a boy, but it did bother me if the whole school was laughing at me. Just when I thought my life was getting easier.

* * *

Finally, school had ended, and I could not get out of that building fast enough. Sure, the people who had no idea who I was had stopped staring at me, but whenever I passed someone from my classes...ugh. This was just not my day.

I walked home quickly, eager to enjoy the comfort of an empty apartment. As soon as I opened the door, I heard, "Haruhi!" That sing-song voice could only belong to one person.

"Dad! Why aren't you at work?"

"My shift ended early today, so now I get to spend more time with my little girl!" he said, welcoming me home with a huge hug. "You've been so quiet these past few days. I've hardly heard anything about what you've been doing in school—and where did you get that dress young lady?"

"Dad, please. It's been a long day. Can I just have some time to myself?"

"If you're having trouble in school, you should talk it out with someone."

"I just want to be alone now."

"You always want to be alone. You never tell me anything anymore. Don't you trust your own father?"

He looked so sad and hurt as he spoke those words. I hate it how he always tries to make me feel guilty. Sighing, I said, "I'll tell you later. Give me a few minutes."

"Fine," he conceded, "but I won't let you go until you tell me how you got that dress. You better not have spent all our money on it!"

"Um, a boy at school bought it for me." There was no way I was going into more detail than that.

"Oh, really?" My dad's mood was instantly brightened. "Well, I can't wait to hear all about your new friend, Haruhi!"

"Yeah, some friend," I muttered as I walked toward my bedroom. I dropped onto the bed. Its squeaks covered up my moans of distress. I had to make up some lie to tell my dad. If I told him the truth, I knew he'd only freak out and forbid me from going back to Ouran, which, at that moment, didn't seem like that bad of a punishment, but I knew I'd be sorry later. And I had a feeling Kyoya would find me wherever I went. As I contemplated what to tell my dad, one thought kept nagging at me: _How did Kyoya know I was a girl?_


	5. Chapter 5

I'm back! I am so, so sorry for not updating in so long, but winter break starts soon, so I will have a lot more time to write. I finally wrote a longer chapter, so hopefully you all can forgive me for taking so long. Thank you for your patience, and please review!

* * *

Chapter 5:

_R-r-r-ring-screech! R-r-r-ring-screech!_

I scrunched up my face in pain at the sound of my old, breaking alarm clock. One thing's for sure, that awful noise sure did get me up in the morning. I eagerly shut off the clock, blinking my eyes as they adjusted to the light. _Friday, _I thought. _I just need to make it through one more day_.

"Haruhi!" my dad called from the kitchen. "I made you breakfast!"

"I'll be there in a minute," I called back. Luckily, my dad wasn't as curious about my day yesterday as I was afraid he would be. Last night, after I left the sanctuary of my room, he just asked what was wrong. I just told him I was having trouble making friends, which wasn't a lie. He reminded me that I had one friend, the boy who paid for my dress. I repressed the urge to retort that Kyoya was "absolutely not even remotely close to being a friend," but I knew that if I was forced to tell my dad about Kyoya he'd send me straight back to the public school. But as I thought about it, I realized that Kyoya _was _the closest thing I had to a friend at Ouran: I spent more time with him than with any other student, and he was the only person I had had a real conversation with. Aside from the whole "indentured servant" problem, I actually might have tried to be friends with Kyoya. At times he was a nice guy. But the situation with the dress was too huge for me to overlook.

* * *

Somehow, mere seconds after I set foot in the school, Kyoya managed to track me down.

"Ah, Haruhi, I'm glad I found you. I have a job for you."

"What? Already? It's only been one day!"

"Well, if you want to repay your debt to me quickly, I recommend you get started."

Since I did want to get back to my "normal" life as soon as possible, I conceded. "Ugh, fine," I said, glancing up at a clock, "but can we get this over with quickly? Classes start in twenty minutes."

"If you hurry, you should be done before school starts. Follow me," he said while adjusting his glasses, and we started walking briskly.

"Where are we going?"

"To the main office. Today a transfer student from France is coming to Ouran. Her name is Renge Houshakuji. My father is a client of her father's business, so I was asked to welcome her to the school. But since she will be in the same class as you and will have a similar schedule to you, I figured it would make more sense for you to greet her and show her around the school."

I didn't want to admit it, but his logic actually made sense. "Fine, but I've only been here for a week. How am I supposed to give her a tour when I don't even know where I am?"

"Just show her one of the libraries, the cafeteria, and where her first class is. She can find her way around the rest of the school on her own. The tour is mostly to give new students a feel for the Ouran experience."

"_The Ouran experience?_" I whispered to myself.

Kyoya stopped walking when we reached the door of the office. "Well, good luck, Haruhi. And remember, if you make a bad impression on her, it reflects poorly on the school."

"Thanks for the encouragement," I muttered as he walked away. I looked at my reflection in the glass windows. Somehow I doubted that my ragged hair style and huge glasses were part of the "Ouran experience."

I entered the office and saw the girl Kyoya had described to me. As soon as she saw me, she made a face at my appearance, but I still tried to be cheerful as I introduced myself.

"Hello, Miss Houshakuji. I'm Haruhi Fujioka, from class 1-A." I stretched out my hand to shake hers, but she folded her arms across her chest.

"You're in class _A_?" she inquired in an extremely high-pitched voice. "Based on your appearance, it's a wonder you even got into Ouran."

"Well, sorry, but not all people can be super rich and perfect-looking," I retorted harshly.

She fluffed her hair. "Did you call me perfect-looking?" _No_. Smiling contentedly, she stuck out her hand. "I'm Renge."

I grudgingly returned the handshake. Deciding it couldn't hurt to try to make a friend, I said, "It's nice to meet you, Renge. I'm sorry for snapping at you just now." I tried my best to sound sincere, and it seemed like she bought it.

"It's fine, but you really should fix your appearance."

"I don't usually look _this_ bad, but I lost my contacts a few days ago, so I have to wear my old glasses instead."

"Well, you could at least take better care of your hair," she said disapprovingly. "Look at all these split ends!" She started grabbing at my hair.

"Um, I'm fine with the way my hair looks—"

"You shouldn't be!" She paused for a moment, thinking. "You know what? I think I have some things that might help!" She began rummaging excitedly through her purse.

"What do you mean—Ah!" Renge bombarded me with an array of various hair products while she snipped and brushed my hair. I started coughing from the fumes. When she finished she added a headband with a bow and held up a mirror.

"Huh! Short hair actually looks good on you! So, what do you think?"

If I hadn't still been wearing my glasses, I might not have recognized myself in the mirror. It was amazing what she could do with the little I gave her to work with. She was right—short hair could look good on me. "Wow..." I said, stunned.

"See? I knew you'd love it!" Renge twirled around for a second, clearly proud of her work. "Now, if we could just get rid of your glasses..." she said, reaching to take them off my face.

As soon as she had removed my glasses, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "Oh my God, your eyes are gorgeous!" she squealed, smashing my face between her hands. I staggered backwards while she began twirling excitedly again. "Looking into your eyes is like looking into a pool of expensive, melted chocolate. Those are eyes that could make any boy fall head-over-heels in love with you! How can you stand to cover up those eyes with those hideous glasses?"

"Um, well, I prefer contacts, but I don't have enough money to pay for them. I was only able to pay for Ouran because I got a huge scholarship."

"I'll buy the contacts for you! I—"

I cut her off immediately. There was no way I would fall for that twice in one week. "NO! I mean, you don't have to do that. I don't want to have to owe you anything."

"Oh, you don't have to pay me back. I have plenty of money to spare! And you know, you could really accentuate your eyes with the right makeup." Suddenly, Renge's face lit up as she thought up a brilliant idea. "Haruhi! Are you doing anything tomorrow?"

I was not expecting that question. "Well, I was going to buy some groceries, but—"

"You can do that later. Tomorrow we'll give each other makeovers! We'll go shopping and get a bunch of outfits and shoes and jewelry and ooh! it's going to be so much fun! And don't worry, I'll pay for everything!"

Maybe it wasn't impossible to make friends at this school. Going clothes shopping didn't exactly fit my definition of fun, but how bad could it be? "Okay, I guess I'll go." Renge squealed again. "Oh, I guess I should give you a quick tour for the next ten minutes."

"Okay. Let's go, Haruhi!" Renge said as she grabbed my hand and dragged me down the hallway.


End file.
